Unit-handling safety-razor construction



Jan. 7, 1958 J. G. ROBERTS UNIT-HANDLING SAFETY-RAZOR CONSTRUCTION Filed June 26, 1952 FIG. 2.

FIG. l.

Unite States Patent O UNIT-HANDLING SAFETY-RAZOR CONSTRUCTION John G. Roberts, Dobbs Ferry, N. Y., assignor to George C. Singer, Hastings-on-the-Hudson, N. Y.

Application June 26, 1952, Serial No. 295,617

13 Claims. (Cl. 30-605) This invention relates to safety razors, its object being to improve the structure and operation of such instruments. It is disclosed herein as applied to a razor suit- :able for conventional double-edge blades and made up of permanently assembled parts including movable blade clamps.

Tlhe improved razor, without blade, is made up of the following elements:

(l) A at rectangular plate (or guard) having lateral hair-lifting edges, endwise upstanding blade supports, corner tabutments and central perforations, the supports and adjacent abutments `defining slots for guiding the blade clamps;

(2-3) A pair of blade clamps (or cap sections) comprising sloping flat surfaced tops with depending arms, having slanting perforation bearings;

(4) A ilexible carrier (or spider) with attached sleeve, the spider comprising Ia flat bow-shaped spring adapted to work below the guard with its ends upturned and diverging to pivot pins for working within the cap section bearings, and the sleeve having an inside boss;

(5) A cylindrically formed cam with attached turning knob, the cam being adapted to engage the boss within the sleeve and having an outside catch; and

(6) A one-piece tubular handle adapted to enclose the sleeve and cam telescopically and being bifurcated at its upper end to embrace the spider, hook shaped ontop to interlock loosely with the guard at the edges of its perforations, and provided at the bottom with a rim turned in to embrace the cam and notched to admit the catch.

These six elements are of simple construction, iinished separately and shaped for immediate assembly without supplementary :fasteners or processing-all useful characteristics with respect to reproducibility and manufacturing economy.

The blade is clamped only upon the upstanding ends of the guard and is flexed only at its ends. This has been -found suflicient to steady it against the flat surface of the cap-section tops and is a feature useful with respect to structural simplicity of the guard and freedom from clogging.

The spider is useful in several respects. By virtue of its flexibility it places 4a safe limit on the forces that can be applied to the blade and assures a well balanced distribution of such forces. By its linkage through the cap-section arms to the guard 'abutments it automatically determines the exact location of the guard on the handle where it cannot possibly set up conicting forces. It does away with center-ofethe-blade devices heretofore customary for locating the blade, which are inherently inexact because necessarily loose fitting. Instead its pivot pins work wedgingly within their slanting bearings to cause the cap-section arms to pinch inwardly against the blade ends; and since the forces involved are backed up by the guard abutments and are balanced by the spider, the blade is invariably brought into la position of perfect symmetry with the guard. l

The slanting bearings for the pivot pins .also provide [for -su'icient inward shifting of the cap section arms .to permit them to turn freely around the guard abutments, the edges of which may, therefore, remain square-cut as sheared in the die.

The driving mechanism comprises the cam and sleeve telescopically held within the handle, together with the turning knob and spider. The boss on the sleeve is engaged by the working edges of the cam, the catch on the cam shank and the turning knob are engaged by the upper and lower surfaces, respectively of the inturned rim at the bottom `of the handle, and the sleeve is topped by the spider. This arrangement facilitates assembly, closes the upper end of the handle and reduces to practically instant operation the opening and closing of the razor.

For clarification of the invention as outlined above or as defined in the appended claims, reference may be had to the accompanying large scale and somewhat fragmented drawings of the preferred razor structure, wherein:

Fig. 1 is an end elevation in closed condition and partly in mid-section;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the upper portion in closed condition with the handle, sleeve and cam in mid-section;

Fig. 3 is a cross-section on line 3-3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation, opposite to that of Fig. l, of the upper portion in open condition with the right hand portion of the guard and blade in cross-section on line 4--4 of Fig. 5 fand with the handle, sleeve and right hand portion of the spider in mid-section; and

Fig. 5 is a plan View in open condition with a portion in cross-section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4. f

The blade 2 may be' of conventional double-edge de-v sign with a central longitudinally extending perforation and reentrant corners leaving narrow unsharpened and easy to flex ends 3. It is supported upon four outward vand upward curving fingers 4 at the ends of the guard 5' and is held or nested at its four corners within the several' arms 6 of the cap-sections. When the razor is closed the blade lies iiat against the slanting roof portions 7 of the cap-sections but is entirely out of contact with main body of the guard. Only the tips of the ingers'4 touch the blade underneath and there only at the blade ends where shaving refuse does not flow. The arms 6 work within slots that are bounded inwardly by the fingers 4 and -outwardly by square-cut inner edges 8 of longitudinally extending abutments 9 at the four corners of the guard. These slots, it will be noted, widen out at the bottom on their inner or nger sides. The over-all lateral span at the tips ofthe ngers 4 is slightly less than the widthy of the blade end when flexed. Each of the arms 6 has an outwardly projecting iinger 10 in position to engage the under surface yof the guard to start the cap-section turning around the abutment.

The cap-sections are lifted and pulled down by a flat, flexible bow-shaped 4spider 11 extending longitudinally of and beneath the guard and turned upwardly at its end where it extends bilaterally in beams of arms 12 somewhat like a cross-bow, to four pivot pins. These pivot pins respectively engage the four depending .arms 6 of the two cap-sections within slanting perforations 13.

piston-like sleeve 15 to which it is secured as by brazing. This sleeve h-as an inside boss 16 in position to be engaged by a rotatable cam 17 which serves as the controller for opening and closing the razor. The cam has a lower or shank portion 18 extending down to a' turning knob 19 to which it is secured as by brazing. The sleeve is formed of sheet material and its looselywithin the handle '.20 and is free to move axially therein. The cam, also formed of sheet material, its loosely within .the sleeve at its upper endlikewise vlooselywithin an inwardly turnedrim The y central portion of the spider forms a circular head 14 of a` orbottom portion 21 of the handle, and is free to turn like a shaft. Its turning movement is confined to a limited angular range after assembly, as will be explained. The bow-shaped section of Sthespider extends -through and ts loosely ina slot between lwall sections 22 of the bifurcated upper part of the handle. The guard rests upon'these wall sections where it is loosely held by a pair of'hook-shaped extensions 23 thatcan freely enter and overlie the guard at the edges .of a pair of openings 24. As thus held the guard has suflicient freedom for transverse adjustment to its correct position as 'determined by the spider. The handle has a notch 25 in its intur-ned bottom portion to allow upward passage during assembly of an outside catch 26 (see Figs. l and 3) on the cam shank. This catch comes to the proper level after assembly to lock the cam loosely in the handle 'while working within the limited range of its controlling movement. The cam proper has a spiral edge 27 to engage the boss on one side to pull the sleeve down to close the razor and it has a levelled-olf extension 28 of that edge to engage this boss to hold the sleeve down. It also has a complementary spiral edge 29 to engage the boss on its other side to release the sleeve and lift it to open the razor.

Each pivot pin has a middle portion 30 of suicient diameter to overlie the edges of one of the perforations 13 and two end portions 31 and 32 of lesser diameter, 31 being the pivot pin proper and 32 being a portion that is riveted to the spider at the end of an arm 12 and formed into a head 33 on the outside of that arm. The several rivet heads 33 serve to stabilize the razor when laid down endwise. The middle portions of the pivot pins also serve to maintain the spider arms 12, cap-section arms 6 and guard in their relative longitudinal positions.

In accordance with principles discussed at greater length in my copending application Serial No. 365,515, led July l, .1953, the guard on one lateral side (or both as shown) has a sharp edge 34 with its leading face substantially normal to the working surface of the instrument. This working surface is that defined by edge 34 and the cutting edge 35 of the blade. One function of edge 34 is to pry under and Aturn up the low lying hairs. Adjacent edge 34 is an outstanding blunt edge 36, the function of the latter being to protect the former from mechanical injury. The trailing face of the blade edge makes a clearance angle with the working surface referred to that, for extra safety without impairment of shaving efficiency, is more acute than feasible with other blade razors.

-Preferably the gripping surfaces of the handle and knob are groovefd and that of the handle is also knurled. See Figs. 1 and 3.

Assembly of the instrument merely requires (1) the insertion of the sleeve and spider element in the handle at the top; (2) the insertion of the cam at the bottom and the turning of it to engage the boss and pull the spider part way down; (3) the interlocking of the guard on the handle; and (4) with the spider spread a bit, the placing of the cap sections in interlocking position and lreleasing the spider.

When the razor is fully closed, the angular position of the catch 26 with reference to the notch 25 is as shown in Fig. 3. When the razor is fully opened, the catch has moved to the position indicated by the arrow 37, the range being about 120 and well away from the notch. In the :closed condition `of the razor the boss 16 on the sleeve is locked beneath the extension edge 28 of the cam and is in abutment with the adjacent edge of the cam shank. Also in this closed condition the spider"at its central portion 14 has been pulled nearly but not quite down to the bottom 38 of the slot in the upper part of the handle (see Fig. 2). The downward movement of the arms 12 of the spi-der, however, is restricted by the cap-section tops coming into blade-clamping position, at Which'time the pivot pins engage the lower slanting edges of the perforations 13. The spider is thus forced to bend, and its arms 1-2 are .drawn longitudinally inward, close to the cap-section arms 6. The fully open condition 'of the razor is determined by the spider coming into contact with the guard when the boss 16 is still in position to be engaged by the spiral edge 27 of the cam upon the next movement to close the razor. By virtue of its flexibility, the total downward pull of the spider is evenly distributed among the four `cap-section arms. The blade is therefore held down securely at each of the four supporting fingers 4 of the guard.

During the final closing stage of the razor, each .pivot pin is in pressure contact with a slanting edge of its bearing and therefore exerts an outward component force against that `part of the cap-section arm which is below the guard. This y.causes the arm to work as a lever ful- -crumed at the guard abutment and its upper end adja cent the top part of the cap section to move with force inwardly against a lateral edge of the blade end. This beingfone of four forces that are balanced by the flexible spider, the blade is brought into 'a perfectly symmetrical position'with respect to the guard.

When inthe act of opening the razor the pivot -pins start to move -upward within their slantingbearings, the cap-section arms are free to shift inwardly, thus relieving them from `pressure against the guard abutmentfarid the blade. Thereupon the blade flattens out andthe cap section arms are enabledfto pass freely by-the square-cut edges 8. The rounding treatment or other special `shaping of these-edges to avoid jamming is, therefore, un'- necessary.

What is claimed is:

l. A safety razor comprising a blade-supporting -plate having several mutually isolated blade-supporting locations, a handle secured to said plate, blade clamping means movable upon and away from said plate, a controller for said vmeans and guided by said handle, and a flexible carrier in direct clamp-actuating relation with said means at said locations and constituting a flexible linkage between said means and saidcontroller.

2. -A safety razor comprising a plate having a plurality of blade supports at mutually isolated locations, blade clamping means'movable upon and away from said plate, a carrier for said means, said carrier being bow-shaped and exible and having a plurality of diverging arms, there being oneof said arms extending to said means at each of said locations, and a controller to move said carrier.

3. A safety razor comprising a plate having several mutually isolated blade-supporting locations, blade-clamping means movable towards and away from said plate, a controller, and a flexible spider movable by said controller and having several arms extending to said means at said locations, respectively.

4. A safety razor comprising a guard plate having "four `upstanding blade-supporting fingers, one at each of four locations corresponding to the corners of a rectangular blade, a pair of movable cap-sections, each adapted to overlie said plate at two of said fingers, and a controller for said cap-sections including a flexible spider underlying said plate with four arms extending to said cap-sections at said four locations, respectively.

5. A safety razor comprising a rectangular 'bladesupporting plate having at each end a pair of longitudinally projecting Aabutments, a pair of movable cap-sections overlyingsaid plate :each having a pair of depending arms with each arm in lposition to engage the inner edge of one of said abutments as a fulcrum, and a controlling spider having four arms, each extending to a junction with the lower end of one of said cap-section arms, said junction consisting of a pivot pin on one arm working within a slanting perforation in the other arm, the direction of slant of said perforation being such that downward movement of said spider produces an outward component force againstthe lowervend of said arm and therefore an inward movement of the upper end of said arm.

`6. A safety razor comprising a blade-supporting plate, a handle secured to said plate, a pair of movable bladeclamping cap-sections each having a pair of depending arms guided by said plate, a bow-shaped flexible spider having diverging arms each connected to one of said depending arms, and means associated with said handle to move said spider.

7. A spider \for a one-piece safety razor consisting of spring sheet material punched and formed into a flexible bow-shaped base section with an upturned rigid cross-bow shaped section at each end of said base section, said ends at the juncture of said cross-bow sections thereto being relatively narrow and therefore torsionally resilient.

8. A safety razor comprising a blade supporting plate, a pair of blade clamping cap-sections each having a pair of depending arms guided by said plate, a handle bifurcated at its upper end and there secured to said plate, leaving a transverse opening in the handle below said plate, a spider confined within said opening and extending therefrom in both longitudinal directions and at its ends divergng laterally to connect with said depending arms, and means associated with said handle to move said spider.

9. A safety razor comprising a shaving head including movable blade holding members, a tubular handle supporting said head, a turning knob abutting the base of said handle and having a shank extending into said handle, said handle having an inwardly turned bottom section with a central opening to receive and to guide said shank, said shank having an outwardly protruding boss above but adjacent said bottom section, said bottom section having a notch to admit said boss, and means within said handle and cooperating with said shank upon the turning of said knob to control said blade holding members.

10. A safety razor comprising a rectangular bladesupporting plate having at each end a pair of longitudinally projecting abutments, a pair of movable cap sections each having a pair of depending arms with each arm in position to engage the inner edge of one of said abutments as a lfulcrum, separate rigid beams at each end of said razor, each of said beams being pivotally connected at its ends to corresponding arms of said cap sections, and 1ongitudinally acting actuating means connecting central parts of said beams and including longitudinally exible means.

11. In a razor for holding a double edge blade of conventional type having a central longitudinal slot and reentrant corner notches, leaving outstanding easily exible ends, said razor comprising a rectangular guard plate, upstanding blade supports at the ends of said plate and in position to support the blade at its exible ends only, and clamping members including extensions spanning parts of said guard plate including said blade supports and actuab-le downwardly toward said supports to conne the blade against said supports.

12. A razor according to claim l1, in which said clamping members are lateral sides of said blade supports.

13. A safety razor comprising a shaving head including movable blade holding members, a tubular handle supporting said head, a turning knob abutting the base of said handle and having a shank extending into said handle, said handle having an inwardly turned bottom section with a central opening to receive and to guide said shank, an outwardly protruding catch secured to said shank and located above but adjacent said bottom section, and means within said handle and cooperating with said shank upon the turning of said knob to control said holding members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 783,660 Williams Feb. 28, 1905 952,216 Saxton Mar. l5, 1910 1,860,680 Lucke May 31, 1932 1,880,881 Dildine Oct. 4, 1932 1,888,747 Swan Nov. 22, 1932 1,951,688 Adams Mar. 20, 1934 1,953,248 McAdoo Apr. 3, 1934 1,967,180 Stovey July 17, 1934 2,043,124 Smith et al. June 2, 1936 2,048,560 Muros July 2l, 1936 2,061,721 Testi Nov. 24, 1936 2,502,062 Rieger Mar. 28, 1950 2,547,704 Hoberg Apr. 3, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 736,420 France Sept. 19, 1932 

